


The Irony of Fate

by immortalje



Series: Prompt Challenges [78]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Heartbreak, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27962534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortalje/pseuds/immortalje
Summary: First he wouldn't live long enough and now he was "wrong"
Relationships: The Doctor/Jack Harkness
Series: Prompt Challenges [78]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047814





	The Irony of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [10prompts](http://www.insanejournal.com/users/10prompts/). The prompt was Writer's Choice and I went with Hurting. ([Table](http://asylums.insanejournal.com/love_sacrificed/1193.html))
> 
> This was written back in 2013 or earlier and I finally got around to posting it.

Once upon a time, the Doctor had been reluctant to enter a relationship with Jack, because, eventually, he would wither and die – his words, not Jack's. It took a while, but with Rose's blessing and help, he had managed to convince the Doctor to take that risk and just live in the present that existed.

Never before (and never afterwards) had he felt that happy – he truly belonged and there hadn’t been any expectations. After a blissful five months, they had ended on the Gamestation where he ended up being left behind. He had stayed for months, starving to death over and over again, convinced that the Doctor had merely botched his landing and overshot, until he couldn't deny the truth any longer.

The century that had gone by since then didn't lessen the hurt a bit. When he met him again, he took in the new look and decided that it had no influence on his feelings. A part of him thought that they could have protected Rose better together instead of apart, but pushed it down. Neither of them could change that event without screwing up history and they both knew better than that.

Things didn't return to normal either. The Doctor kept them apart, clearly showing the disgust – discomfort – whatever you wanted to call it – at his newly revealed status as a universal fact. As if being left behind hadn't hurt enough, finding out why was even worse. He didn't know how often he had wanted to cry himself to sleep during the year that never was, never really daring least he give the Master any ammunition.

Going back to his team after things were back to being as normal as they should be, didn't help either. What could he tell them? He wasn't comfortable sharing what had happened to him and telling them about the stuff from before that left too many questions.

Worst of all, he had always worried that the Doctor would leave him after deciding he couldn't watch him grow old and die, but now that wouldn't happen anymore. He wouldn't grow old and die any time soon. There would be no withering or dying for him after all and all of a sudden the solution to the one thing that had kept them apart on some level before was now the new thing that kept them apart. Somehow, things never went his way. Did he screw up so badly that something out there, didn't want him happy at all?


End file.
